Improvement in producing refined cast-iron, steel, and malleable iron



3 Sheets-Sheet l J. W. MIDDLETON. ART OI PRODUCING REPINED IRON AND STEEL FROM THE ORB;

No. 110,990. Patented Jam-17 1871 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. W. MIDDLETON.

ART OF PRODUCING REFINED IRON AND STEEL FROM THE ORE. No. 110,990. Patented Jan. 17: 1871:

3 sheefs sheet 3a J. w. MIDDLETON. I ART OF PRODUCING REFINED IRON AND STEEL FROM THE ORE.

No. 110,990. Patented Jan, 17 1871..

amen finder JOIIN W. MIDDLETON, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

. Letters Patent No. 110,990; dated January 17, 1871 antcdated January 8, 1871.

IMPROVEMENT lN PRODUClNG REFINED CAST-IRON, STEEL, AND MALLEAIBLE IRON.

The schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and maldng part of the same.

I, John W. MIDDLETON, of the city and county of Philadelphia, in.thc State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in the Art of Producing Refined- GastJron, Steel, and Malleable Iron direct from the m'e-rcducing furnace by one continuour operation, and in the Apparatus therefor, of which the following is a specification.

Nature and Objects of the Invention.

My present invention relates bach'to three prior applications now before the Patent ()fiice, the first one of which was allowed on the 8th day of April, the second on the 25th day of March, and the third filed. on the 25th day of March, all in the year 1870; and for brevity inreferring herein to the same, I. propose to indicate them respectively by the letters A B O, the present being application I), as all of the' processes and apparatus therein and herein described are intended to be connected, and thus to constitute the one cont-inns series of operations and apparatus,

for the purposes specified.

The first part of my present invention relates back to application 0, and consists of an apparatus to he put in connection with the tuyere-pipes F F, shown in said application. 0, (see figs. 1 and 2 of the herewith accompanying drawiug,)'and operated so as to cific gravity and construction as to sink down through,

the slag and scoria, and float upon the fluid metal beneath, in the said vcsselD, the object of said floating indicator being to show the height of the top surface of the metal in the said vessel.

The third part of my present invention relates to the employment, outhe bottom of a deep vessel containing melted iron, of a disk of porous burnt clay,

saturated either with hydrocarbons, acid, or alkaline solutions or water, and confined in the bottom of. said vessel, so that whenthe melted iron is run into the said vessel the heat of the said iron will gradually expel the substances previously absorbed by the said clay disk, and thus cause them to pass upward through the melted iron, the object of this part of my invention being to subject the melted iron to the gradually 'and slowly-developing exhalations of the disk, in order that sufiicient length of time be afforded for the chemically-purifying action of the same upon the impurities in the melted mass of iron in the vessel.

The fourth part of my present in vent-ion relates to the employment of a torpedo or torpedoes in a suitable case or cases, containing chemical reagents, and secured firmly on the bottom of a deep 'vesscl containing melted iron, the said cases being also in' connection with respective conducting-wires, so that the said torpedoes can be exploded separately or in succession, when desired, and the reagents contained in the respective cases liberated, the object of this part. of my invention being to apply sudden and rapidlyacting purifying reagents to the melted iron in the vessel, as the presence of any particular impurities may require.

Description of the Accompanying Drawing.

Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 represent the apparatus described in the priorapplications referred to herein as applications A B G, and, therefore, need not be further explained herein. Figure 6 is a front view of the apparatus, herein described, for opening and closing the series of tuyeres described and represented by the drawings in application A.

Figure 7 is a vertical transverse section of fig. 6.

Figure 8 is a vertical section, representing one of the vessels.v four-receiving the melted metal, as insulated by means of glass supports in a heated chamher or oven, and provided with the small torpedo and electric nominating-wires, and the. disk of; clay and carbon. 1 v

Figure 9 is a vertical section of the vessel in fig. 8, cut' in a plane at right angles to the said figure.

Figure 1 0 is a horizontal section or" the said vessel below the dotted line :0 3 of fig. 9

, Figure 11 is a. vertical central section of the hollow ingot of iron or steel, and the mold in which it is cast. p

General Description. I

The apparatus represented by figs. (i and 7 consists of a frame, A B, of any suitable construction, through the lower part or base of which the series of tuycrepipes F F pass, in connection with suitable enlargements or bosses, each having a large smooth cylindrical or otherwise-shaped opening through it, and cutting the bore of the tuyere-pipc transversely.

Iutoeach of these openings a stem, f'f, having a hole, 2, corresponding with the bore of the tuyere; pipe, is adjusted to slide, so that the passage-way for the air or gas to be forced, under pressure, through the respective pipes F F, may he suddenly closed and opened alternately by the movements of the said stems f.

The required movements of the said stems f are efi'ected by. means of a rotating cylinder, 0, provided with a series ofetransverse grooves, co,corresponding in number with the tnycre-pipes F, and ineach of which grooves a friction-wheel, 3', rolls, (as the said cylinder rotates,) its axis beingin the end of a lever, 4, ot' the first clsss, which is supported upon its fulcrum, 5, and its weight en'd'articulated to the stenr ness of the opening and closing-of the 'bore ofjthe' tuyerc-pipe being in accordance with the velocity at which the grooved cylinder Cis rotated.

For the purpose of keeping the friction-wheels 3 of the-respective levers 44 in close contact with the cylinder 0, their power-ends of the saidlevers may beweighted, or a suitable spring, 6, (see fig. 2,) may be attached in preference, as a spring will act-more quickly. 7

The eccentrics in the grooves are intended to be arranged respectively,so as to open and close the tnyere-pipes of the series in succession, or two, three, or more of them simultaneously, and, in caseswhere the eccentric would, by its length, too long protract the movement of the stems f, two or more toes or lifters, 7, may be substituted, and the strength of the spring 6 increased so as to cause the said stems to open and close the tuyere-pipes with the greatest available velocity the occasion may require. Anypf the stems maybeheld down out of its connection with the oper'atingccylinder G by means; of a" tension-rod, a, which may bereadily hitched over the hook or pin 0' in the stem.- v r H The floating indicator Ev (see fig. 1).;.co1.1sists. simply of an egg-shaped or globularbody, e, and a stem, 0', of thin sheet-platina filledksolidly with cast-iron, and the stem marked-in regular divisions to indicate the position or depth of the surface of the meltedmetal in relation to the top edge of the vessel-*]),containing them,.so that tlie attendant canreadily ascertain the quantityof-metal'which may-be at any time below the sla'glor scoria.

The small torpedo G, and its attached wires 9 g, (see figs. 8', 9, 10,)arc constructed andapplied at the bottom of the vessel, insulated (by glass supports (1' (1') ma suitable even, so that an electric spark will be discharged within the torpedo on the passage of a current of the electric-fluid from asuitable battery, and thus,- by-explosion' of the torpedo, remove'its necessary protectiveeoveringof clay, fu rther separate the wires g g, and permit the electric current to pass continuously upward through the mass of melted iron in the insulatedvesscl so longas-itsactionmay .11"-

required.

Thedisk H, of compacted clayandearbon, and

also the porous burnt brick or disk (to be saturated.

or impregnated either with Wittfil', hydrocarbons, acid, or alkaline fluids) are intended to be'prepared before hand, and the required one securely tixed on or near the bottomof the inside of the purifying 'vessehso that when the melted iron is run into the latterthe heat thereof will graduallyliberatethe carbon from the clay in the one case, or'thc hydrocarbons, water, acid, or alkaline solutions, or other volatile or vaporizable substances, from the porous burntdisk or brick in the other case, and thus permit the'prodncts of either to pass gradually upward through or into the mass of melted metal above. v

After the malleable iron has been purified, refined, or recarburetized in the said vessel, it is intended either to be immediately conveyed to the squeezer, and then to the rolls and elongated into bars, or by increasing theheat, run into'molds which will form it into solid ingots of the T, H, L, U, or V, or other solid forms, or into hollow conical frnstnms, to facilitate by said forms the produet-ionof railway rails or hollow shafts or bars by elongating the ingots between rolls for the purpose.

In fig. 11- y I represents a half-section of the hollow conical ingot, out longitudinally K, the shell of the mold in which it is cast;

is, the removable base of the mold; and

k, the removable core, 'When the ingot'has become sutliciently set, the core k ca'n be readily knocked out,.the base k'removed, and the ingot released by separating the halves of the shell K, made in two separable parts for the purpose.

My improvements in the art of 'producing refined cast-iron, steel, and malleableiron, and forming the same into either first quality castings or bars, or ingots to be elongated into bars by rolls or otherwise, direct from the ore-reducing furnace by one, continuous operation and'in the apparatus therefor, ,commences with the proeessesand' apparatusdesoribed in my former applications A B O, and concludes with the process and apparatus herein described and set forth; and, for the purpose of rendering the whole more clear as a unity, I will proceed to describe,briefly,- the whole operation 'from the ore-producing furnace to the rolls;

Beginning at the ore-reducing furnace, the melted ironand slag run from an inclined or level hearth in a gutter less inclined intoa first poohwhich allows the coarser slag to run elf-by a suitable side gutter in one direction, and the remaining iron. and slag another suit-able'gutter provided with a removailhq adjustable. stop, to run into a vertical stationart:

removable reservoir, in which the said 'iron and-r2 are allowed to separatc'by gravitation, and the iron be afterward withdrawn for castings, if desired; or, by a continuation of the gutter into a pool orpools inside of a pnddling, refining, or boiling fnrnace,and decarburetized therein by means of thcheat of the furnace thereof in combination with the agitating and kneadingioperationof the powerful jets ofhot air or gases, either with or without chemically-acting powders ejected by suflieient pressure upon a main through the tuyere pipes, (described in application 0, and represented. by figs. I'zl1l1 2 in the presentapplication,) governed by a suitable apparatus operating cut-oli valvesin the series of tnyere-pipes, substantially'as herein. described, and represented by. figs. 6 and 7; and when' decarbonized and (if necessary, still more higfily'heated) run into molds which will tbrm it into a e suitable in form for immediately elongating between rolls adapted for railway or other solid bars, or into hollow ingots by means of the mold represented in fig. 11,- for being immediately elongated into hollow shafting or bars between suitable rolls.

' But if further purification be first desired, or the iron be required to be recarburetized or converted into steel,

. it is run from the pool directly into the insulated vessel D, (see figs. 8, 9, 10,) and subjected accordingly either 'to the action or electricity and the chemical action of the impregnated porous burnt brick or disk, or, it steel be desired, to the carbnretizmg action of the carbon liberated from the condensed block or disk H of clay and carbon previously described herein, and thus run into the ingot-molds, and finally elongatedbetween the rolls. l

The carboniferous block or disk-H should be of such a thickness and area as will fnrnishthe specific amount of carbon required for the particular quantity of iron in the earburetizing vessel D. This modejo f recarbnretizing the purified melted iroliis believed to be more certain in respect to the proper amount of carbon to be furnished to the iron for converting it into steel than that of adding speigelisen, asv adopted by Bessemer.

Then-hole passage-nay from the grate-bars of coalfurnace and blast-pipes to the blast-furnaee should be so constructed as to he readily-made air-tight, andespccially so to keep the receiving-vessel D therein snlfieiently heated.

Adjustable windows or peepsholes'are intended to be arranged at different places, toenahle the manager or workman to observe the operations going on in the furnace when the blast is shut off, and at other times when practicable. 7

Several diflerent-sized or shaped furnaces for deearhuretizing or otherwise purifying the iron, or for the specialpurpose of heating the blast and intensifying it before it enters the ore-reducing bhistfurnace, are

intended to be located and coiuiected'with it, either singly or in gangs, thus diminishing the quantity'of fuel usually put intothe tunnel-head. I

Particular care should be taken in the application of all the doors-or openings, so that they may be readily made perfectly air-tight when desired.

the said end and the cut-off valve should be as short andstraightas possihle,and special care should be taken in'adjustingthe direetiousofthe several tuyeres so that full" rotary motion of the fluid metal around the manager or workmen to judge of the propriety of. increasing or diminishingtbe quantity of air or gaspass'ing through the same.

Claims.

f I claim as my invention- 1. An apparatus for opening and closing a series of tuyere-pipes connected with a paddling, boiling, or refiner-y furnace, when the said apparatus is constructed to operate substantially as .and for the purpose herein'before set forth.

2. The employment of'a floating metallic indicator, E, constructed substantially as and for the purpose liereinhefore set forth.

3. The employment-of a'disk of porous burnt brick clay, securedon the bottom of a deep vessel containing melted. iron, the said diskbeing saturated either with water, hydrocarbons, acid, or alkaline solutions, substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore de-. scribed and set forth. i

4. The employmentof a small torpedo,.G, in the bottom of the insulated vessel eontaiuing melted iron or steel, in combination with the electric wires g, and arranged to explode the said torpedo by an electric spark, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

JOHN W. MIDDLETON.

Witnesses:

BENJ. MORISON, WM. H. MORISON. 

